aWatch Weight, aDress 4 Success — aFix Your Teeth!

If you care about your appearance and overall health, you simply must include dental expenses in your annual budget.

Maintaining your teeth year after year is much less expensive than paying for major repairs from neglected oral health, several sources report. Plus, you will skip years of worrying about your smile!

“Dentists make every argument for patients to brush their teeth and keep regular dental appointments. But the bigger issue to many patients is: It also is the best way to save money on dental care,” said Vernon Beamon, D.M.D. The veteran dentist is owner of Beamon Dental in Gulfport, Miss.

Regular dental checkups out of your own pocket may cost about the same or less than premium dental insurance, price comparisons show. Check your cost-saving options and make sure your dental insurance, if you choose it, accepts your dentist. Dental insurance premiums are discounted, based on ability to pay, under the Affordable Care Act (ACA or “Obamacare”) for 2017. ACA dental premiums cost less than $10 per month in some states.

Dental maintenance care typically includes

cleaning, x-rays and fillings. As you grow older, it will include crowns and replacement fillings (usually after several years, when fillings are lost or cracked). Neglected oral health can push you to more expensive root canals, extractions, gum disease, bridges, dental implants and dentures, Dr. Beamon explained.

An American Dental Association (ADA) survey showed that adults who make less than $30,000 per year are more than twice as likely to have had all their teeth removed than those who earn more.

Prevention also cuts costs, Dr. Beamon noted. The ADA recommends you brush their teeth twice a day with a fluoride toothpaste, use floss or an interdental cleaner daily, and have regular dental checkups once or twice annually, or more often as needed. (Interdental cleaners include dental picks, tiny brushes, water flossers, pre-threaded flossers and wooden plaque removers.)

Beamon Dental accepts most dental insurance; call us to ask about yours. See our INSURANCE page on this website.

We also refer our patients to CareCredit if they want to finance their dental costs with low interest rates.